Rotary flour-sifter.



UNUSED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE JULIAN SWEMELLWLLE, ARKANSAS.

l l I v` RoTARY FLoUR-SIFTER.

4 Specification of Letters Patent.

j ratenteol March 27, 1906.

Application filed Mayalao. serial No. 259,213.

A.To all' whom t may concern: i y

-siding at Russellville, in the county of Pope and State of Arkansas,have invented a new and useful Rotary Flour-Sifter, of which thefollowing is a' specification.

This invention relates to sifters for domestic purposes, andmoreparticularly to a' sifter especially designed for sifting iiour andsimilar materials.

The object ofthe invention is .toprvide a simple,- inexpensive, anddurable device of this character capable of being conveniently supportedin the hand and one in whichthe material will be subjected to a constantagitation during the sifting process.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sifter in which thereticulated bottom thereof is detachable to thereby permit the same to,be readily removed and replaced by a new one wheny Worn orl otherwiseinjured from constant use.

. Astill further object is to provide a device having a continuoussifting-surface, the agi- 'tator being centered in a bearing disposedabove the reticulated bottomV and normally .held in contact with thelatter by `means of a coil-spring, thereby permitting said agitator tomove upwardly in crushing lumps of flour or otherfmaterial and also topermit the agitator to be retracted when necessary in order to releaseany particles of iiour which may adhere to and clog or otherwiseobstruct the reticulated bottom of the sifter. y

The'inventio'n consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended, itbeing understood that various `changes in form, proportions, and minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from theprinciple or ,sacrificing any of the advantages vof this invention.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a sifter constructed inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the reticulated bottom detached. Fig. 4is a bottom plan view of a portion of the agitator. Fig. 5 is a detailperspective view of the reinforcing-plate and a portion ofthe.transverse brace.

. Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts-in -all theiigures of the drawings.

' The device consists ofva vessel or receptacle 5, preferablycylindrical in shape, as

suitable handle ,6 and having its upper end 'openand its lower endprovided with aV reticulated bottom 7, composed, preferably, ofwire-gauze constituting a sifter, as shown. The bottom 7 is providedwith a spring-metal reinforcing-ring 8 and is detachably secured withinthe vessel by engagement with an annular rib or depression 9, wherebysaid perforated bottom may. be readily removed when worn or otherwiseinjured from constant use or other causes and replaced by a new one.Extending transversely across the open end 10 of the vessel and solderedor otherwise rigidly secured to the verticalwalls of thelatter is abrace or bar 11, provided with a central depression having an opening 12formed therein, adapted to receive the vertical shaft 13 'of a rotaryagitator, the latter ypreferably comprising a plurality of curved arms14, connected to the shaft at the upper end thereof by a casting 15 andat the lower end of said shaft by a similar casting 16.`

The lower face of the casting 16 is curved to conform to the contour ofthe screening-surface of the detachable bottom and is yieldably held incontact therewith by a coilspring 17, interposed between the casting 15and the brace or bar l1. The shaft carrying.

the agitating-arms 14 is mounted for vertical shown, and formed of metalor other suitable vmaterial, said vesselbeing provided with a movementin the opening 12, which latter serves to properly center the agitatorwithin the vessel 5, so that under normal conditions the coil-springwill force the casting 16 in contact with the screen, but permit theagitator to move upwardly in crushing lumps of flour or other material.v.

By having the shaft mounted for vertical movement in the mannerdescribed the agi- IOO tator may be also vibrated against the perfobarthe latter is preferablyv reinforced by a IIO sheet-metal disk 19, theedges of which are I folded or crimped around the edges of the bar, asshown.

From the foregoing it is apparent that there is produced a device ofsimple construction during the operation of which the material will beconstantly agitated to prevent packing and feed evenly and rapidly tothe screen or sifter.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- In a device ofthe class described, a cylindrical vessel having its opposite ends openand provided with an annular retaining ange, a detachable reticulatedbottom adapted to engage said rib and having its central portion curvedtoward the lower end of the vessel, a brace extending'transversely ofthe vessel at the upper end thereof and provided with a centraldepression having an opening formed therein, a reinforcing-disk securedto the brace at said depression and provided with an opening adapted toregister siaise with the opening in the depression, an 0perating-shaftjournaled in said openings and having a free vertical movement, a pairof spaced castings carried by the shaft the lower one of which is curvedto conform to the bottom of the reticulated bottom, a plurality ofcurved agitator-arms secured to the upper casting and intersecting thelongitudinal axis of the vertical shaft at the lower casting, acoil-spring interposed between the upper casting and tle centraldepression for normally holding the agitator-arms in yieldableengagement with tl e reticulated bottom, and a handle carried'by thefree end of tle operating-shaft,

In testimony that I claim tle foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE JULIAN SWEETEN.

Witnesses:

J. F. LEONARD, R. C. HARBIsoN.

